


The Essence Of Beauty

by plinys



Series: abc au challenge [6]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 19:00:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6163318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plinys/pseuds/plinys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hux is the most popular cover model for First Order, the galaxy's premiere fashion magazine. For his latest shoot he's sent to Naboo to work with the Queen's personal fashion designer, Kylo Ren.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Essence Of Beauty

**Author's Note:**

> For my abc au challenge, F is for Fashion. Also I wanted to play around with the fact that basically any AU could be set in the Star Wars universe, and that not every AU for this fandom needed to be modernized to work. This was an experiment in that concept.

"What are you doing here?"

"Phasma sent me?"

He sounds hesitant as he says the words. Fingers clutching tightly to a camera case labeled '2187' - though Hux wasn't certain if that was the camera's model number or simply the number of photographers that the First Order employed.

Hux wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter.

The First Order was the Galaxy's premiere fashion holomag, had been for quite some time.

And Hux - well he was their top model, appearing on the cover more often than anyone else in the history of the holomag.

It helped that his father had been a copy editor for years, though the younger Hux would deny that any favoritism had come into play when he was hired. He liked to think that had risen to the top due to the fact that he was ridiculously good looking.

Whatever the case, he was a known face.

As such he had developed certain patterns with the holomag's staff, for instance Hux always worked with the same photographer.

Phasma.

The person sitting across from him was most certainly not her.

"And where is she?"

The photographer clutches his bag tighter. "Prepping for Fashion Week on Hosnian Prime."

Fashion Week.

Hux should be prepping for Fashion Week. He should be letting makeup artists and hairdressers primp and preen at him in preparation for the event that was less than a month away. Instead he was here - in a dismally grey transport heading for Naboo of all places.

The editor-in-chief of First Order, fondly nicknamed Supreme Leader by his less skittish employees, had received a burst of inspiration weeks before when the reigning Queen of Naboo had come to visit the city dressed in something that Hux personally thought resembled a tauntuan’s afterbirth. As such he was now being ship half way across the galaxy, just before the biggest event in fashion history, for a photo shoot made up of outfits designed by the mysterious Kylo Ren.

Hux had looked him up in preparation for the ordeal and what he had seen was unsatisfying. It seems the Queen's personal fashion designer did not simply make one hideous outfit but specialized in this sort of nonsense.

Which was why Hux had definitely been hoping to have Phasma around to soften the blow and insist that whatever hideous things Ren saw fit to try and put him in were ruled out as being ill fit for the spread.

Hux heaves a sigh and his less than favorable circumstances.

"Well, 2187, I hope you're up for the task."

"21-" the photographer starts then stops, a confused look on his face. "My name's Finn."

But Hux has already tuned him out.

\---

"I'm not wearing that," are the first words off of his lips, and the closest to a polite response he could manage.

A less polite response would be pointing out that the coat in front of him looks like the half dead offspring of a peacock and a Sith Lord. A look that the designer in front of him seemed to have affected as his personal style.

Hux supposed he should have seen this coming, but there was nothing to mentally prepare him for Kylo Ren.

The man in front of him wore a sheer black crop top, pants far too tight, and a pair of suspenders. His dark hair was pulled back away from his face, making it easy to see the way his features twisted in distaste at Hux's objections.

"Excuse me," the two words are carefully said, anger in the tone.

Why were bad designers always the first to get uppity?

"2187, repeat my words for Mr. Ren as clearly he fails to understand Basic."

Ren turns his head to the side as 2187 starts to speak, cutting him off quickly to ask, "Who are you?"

The photographer weakly offers his name as, "Finn," once more before trying to placate Ren.

"I told Snoke I didn't need a photographer," Ren still sounds displeased. "I don't work with outside photographers."

Hux snorts. When he speaks it is with heavy sarcasm. “You do realize this is a cover shoot, don’t you? Typically one needs a photographer for these situations, unless you somehow have a camera stashed in that ridiculously get up.”

At this comment a girl that Hux had previously written off as unimportant pipes up. "Hi, uh, I normally do my brothers photos he's very particular, but if you want we could work together, make sure my shots look good enough for the mag?"

At least the sister seems to have better fashion sense.

"It's a shame you don't design, Miss Ren, you seem to have much better taste," Hux says, against his better judgement.

The girl wrinkles her nose, muttering, "Just Rey is fine," before she hurriedly drags 2187 away with her.

Which leaves Hux once again with Ren and the outfit that might just be the most hideous thing he has ever seen.

And that was saying something. After all, one did not become a high fashion icon without seeing some hideous outfits.

For a second neither of them say anything - they simply state across the space at each other. Ren's eyes are dark and steady, unwavering from the eye contact. Hux was known to have a powerful stare. Weaker men would have looked away by now.

Eventually Ren breaks the silence, "I need to rethink my color scheme, I've never worked with one of your coloring before." Ren says the words casually, but he means them as a barb, Hux would be a fool not to notice that much.

He's used to these sorts of comments, knows better than to react to them. There had been a number of implications in the fashion industry that the only reason Hux rose to the top so easily was because of his exotic hair color. He supposed he should count himself lucky that the Galaxy is lacking gingers otherwise he would be out of work.

Of course, he should have known better than to assume Ren wouldn't push it further.

"You'd fetch quite a nice price in the outer rim."

\---

Despite hating the designer and hating the fact that he's not back on Hosnian Prime to watch the planet blow up into a fashion frenzy - Hux has to admit that Theed is nice.

The Capital of Naboo has a peaceful air about it - old building and plenty of lakes which, had his been a normal shoot, would have been perfect backdrops to model against.

But instead of modeling he was stuck in his hotel room, his only connection to the world around him coming from a window that Hux had forced open in order to smoke out of.

Technically this was his fault since Hux had been the one to storm out of his dressing room.

Technically it was also the First Orders fault for sending him here to work with an outrageous designer with clear anger management issues.

Two cigarettes later he had decided Phasma was to blame for all of this.

Phasma who was currently on the holo behind him, the holo Hux was steadily ignoring as she berated him.

"Don't fuck this up."

It's those words that get him to turn around.

She takes this as some form of encouragement. "Snoke wants this shoot - cover of our fall opener. Apparently this designer kid is related to some important people, strings were pulled, pockets were lined with credits. You know the deal."

He did far too well.

Hux gives a brief nod of acknowledgement.

"Good then you know that if you fuck this up and refuse to shoot, Snoke won't hesitate to send someone else and where does that leave you?"

Not at the top anymore, that's what she was implying. Each model the First Order employed was replaceable and while Hux liked to think he was attractive enough to get a job with another holomag if he got let go, reality wasn't that easy.

Nobody ever said it outright but everyone knew, after the First Order, nobody ever wanted you again.

Hux stubs out his cigarette on the floor of the hotel room.

"Understood."

\---

He's here.

Hux thinks that should count for something.

Dressed in far too many layers for the sweltering heat. A window had been cracked at some point, no more than a few inches, which failed to offer even a light breeze.

He presses a hand to his head ignoring the directions on how he should be posing and it comes away damp with sweat.

"Maybe we could stop for the day," 2187 says. He's not behind a camera but standing off to the side as Ren's sister - Rey - fiddles with the controls on camera bigger than her head.

At least 2187 has proved he has some uses.

Ren, on the other hand, looks drastically opposed to the idea. Eyes narrowing in Hux's direction.

"Do we have anything usable," Ren asks. He's speaking to Rey, probably, but has not turned to look at her, instead he steps closer to Hux.

The girls’s silence is enough of an answer in itself.

"I don't know why you're being so difficult," Hux says boldly returning Ren's gaze.

This earns him an affronted noise in reply. "I'm the one being difficult? You sit there looking as if you'd rather die than stay here a moment longer, when I know they've trained you better than that."

"Trained me?" Hux repeats angry.

Ren ignores his interruption and continues on. "And now you have the nerve to complain about my being particular when you're the one that has been radiating hostility since you walked in."

"Ren," the sister says in a warning tone, though Hux could have sworn for a second she actually said _Ben_.

This draws Ren's gaze away from Hux, focusing on their two photographers.

"Clear the room." When they hesitate he repeats the words louder and angrier. "Clear the room!"

2187 still seems to hesitate until Hux heaves a sigh of his own, and fixes his gaze on the reluctant photographer. "Get me a glass of water, this will just take a moment."

It's finally then that they leave, the door slamming shut with just Hux and Ren inside the room that they had claimed for their session.

Now that they are alone Ren crosses the space between them, stopping mere inches from Hux, the scrutinizing and angry look never leaves his face.

"I don't know what you think-" Hux starts but his next words are silenced as Ren kisses him.

His first reaction is to push the other man back, to reclaim his personal space, but the second his hands come up to do so, to grab Ren by the shoulders and push him away, he finds that instead he is pulling the other man closer.

He opens his mouth subconsciously welcoming Ren in. Hux tells himself that it is simply because he has not been with anyone in a few days, that he is desperate for a quick release, and that Ren is simply the first warm body to press up against his own.

Admitting even subconsciously that he finds Ren attractive enough to want to kiss him is not an option Hux will even let himself consider.

Still he cannot fight his own body, cannot fight the way he steps forward without thinking toward Ren, when Ren pulls away from him.

His eyes flicker open after a moment when he hears the sound of heeled boots moving across the floor away from him.  When he catches sight of Ren, the other man had moved to the camera, and looked satisfied by something on its screen.

"What the Sith was that?"

He hates that his voice sounds more breathless than angry.

"Our winning shot."

Ren tilts the camera in Hux's direction after he stalks over and it takes Hux a second to register what is on the display.

It's a picture of him moments before, face flushed, eyes shut, lips kissed - he looks ready to be debauched. A look that from a purely aesthetic point of view Hux can appreciate, he has always found himself terribly attractive.

"Don't do that again," Hux says, stalking away from the camera and refusing to admit that the photograph was actually quite nice. One of his best even.  

It doesn't hit him until 2187 returns a minute later with the drink he had forgotten that he asked for, that if that photograph had been taken right after Ren kissed him, who could have activated the camera.

 


End file.
